TiAL QRJ BOV review

It’s been a while since I’ve been asked to review a new part so when I got my hands on the TiAL QRJ BOV I was super excited. Now there is nothing wrong with my trusty TiAL Q 50mm BOV. Its the same one I’ve been running for years. Its great, and with 450whp from my Forced Performance HTA GT3076 2.3L venting all that air is no easy task.

So why the change? Well, as good as the Tial Q 50mm BOV is at venting a metric shit ton of air it really isn’t that good at just letting a little bit go at at time. Who cares? Well, let me paint this picture for you. You’ve just blasted down the back stretch of fabled Watkins Glen and your car explodes out of the bus stop and into the Carousel, a broad sweeping right hand turn that falls away as you near the apex. All that pulse pounding boost that ripped you out of the bus stop has no place in the Carousel. Its a turn that needs patience and control. So you feather the throttle and gently balance the chassis on the ragged edge of control. But your efforts to massage the throttle are for naught because the BOV isn’t able to be subtle. Its a brute of a valve that wants nothing to do with modulation so it dumps everything its got with every little inflection of your right foot. The car reacts violently, bucking, and sputtering as the turbo fights to refill the boost lost to venting. The only solution is to use less throttle to keep the boost from building until you can get the car closer to the exit. That is not a formula for a fast lap.

So in comes the new Tial QRJ BOV. A new “clean sheet” design from the fine folks at TiAL Sport. New for 2014 – The TIAL QRJ is their latest boost control valve. Designed with the needs of high performance recirculating systems in mind. The QRJ features a new body design, compact installation envelope, high-flow capacity, and configurable inlet and outlet ports.

What makes it so different? Well, its the design and because of that, it allows you to run a soft spring. Look back at the TiAL Q 50mm valve. Its got a great big valve that has to fight against boost pressure to stay shut. It it leaks you loose power so we all are forced to stuff a big heavy spring into the valve just so it holds the 30+ psi of boost we love to run. So stiff spring and big valve seat = equals a valve that has no way of being subtle.

In the QRJ the valve is inverted so you don’t have to fight all that boost pressure to keep it from leaking meaning you can now use a lighter spring. With the valve facing the opposite direction you get a very linear opening and a very gentle opening if that is how you are modulating the throttle. No more upsetting the entire car in a long corner just because I roll off the throttle!

With hose end and v-band choices, installing is pretty strait forward. TiAL even has an adapter flange that lets you bolt this up to your existing Q-type BOV flanges. So the first order of business was to pull out my old BOV.

Once its out it pretty easy to see the difference. Physically, they are about the same size but they will end up fitting slightly different because of how the valve in the QRJ is compared to the Q. Also, the flanges can add some size too.

Installing it place of the old Q is pretty strait forward and because of the race car nature of my, well race car, fitment isn’t any issue at all.

So how well does it do its job? Its sublime! That’s the short story. I’ve been driving with the part-throttle fluttering for so long I had forgotten how invasive it really is. I got my QRJ with the TiAL Q adapter and a 1.5″ hose end. I didn’t need the hose end because I am venting to atmosphere but you get a choice of two with the kit so I got it just in case. They have a diverting outlet that was little to flashy for me but I can see where some may want it. This is a good time to talk about another great feature of this BOV. Both the inlet and outlet ports are convertible. The flanges just screw in and out allowing you to choose between a Q type flange, v-band flange, and 1, 1.5″ hose end flanges. That makes it a snap to fit any car and it was specifically designed to fit the GTR, Evo and Sti crowd.

So back to how it worked for me. It works, just plain and simple, it works. Even the slightest modulations of the throttle yield imperceptible venting moments. This is going to give me renewed confidence to stay on the boost in corners and that means lower lap times. And for just over $200 its a killer deal too. So if you’re planning on any sort of road racing, time attack, or autocross you should really consider this TiAL QRJ BOV.

Where can I get my hands on one? Well, there isn’t a better place for all your turbo needs than Forced Performance. So give them a shout and they will hook you up.

Tim

“if you are in control, you are not going fast enough!” -Parnelli Jones

You can mount it either way. For low boost applications I would suggest mounting it like a typical BOV with the valve face towards the boost source. For high boost applications you can mount backwards so the back side of the valve faces the boost source. Mounting it backwards uses the boost pressure to push the valve closed resulting in a leak free BOV. For reference over 30 psi is high in my book… Tim

[...] (road racing, canyon carving autocrossing, etc). If you insist on TiAL, the QRJ is a better option.http://timmyspec.com/?p=71 Also, the Q is a radial design (requires maintenance more often) while the QRJ is a directional [...]